Author Phil Dixon Talks About KC Monarchs; Watch and Discuss "First Peoples"
Baseball season is upon us, and if terms like “Baltimore chop” and “Bronx cheer” stir the fan in you, consider an upcoming program about a team of long ago with a storied past.
Award-winning author and historian Phil S. Dixon offers an entertaining look at the history of the Kansas City Monarchs at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 19, in the Library Center auditorium. (A winter snowstorm clipped Dixon’s visit in February 2015.)
The Monarchs won the first Negro League World Series championship in 1924. But Dixon says few people realize the team’s revolutionary impact on baseball, and how connected the men and their teams were to cities all over the United States, including Springfield. His visit is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
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The next event leading up to the Smithsonian Institution exhibit “Exploring Human Origins” in May is from 6-8 p.m. March 23, in the Library Center auditorium.
We’ll air episodes from the PBS “First Peoples” series covering America, Africa and Asia for adult audiences, and host a discussion with two series collaborators, Suzanne Walker-Pacheco, professor of sociology and anthropology at Missouri State University; and Kevin Jansen, Drury University professor of biology.
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Just a reminder – the readers’ theater, “A Voyage From England,” by members of the Friends of the Library is at 9:30 a.m. March 23, in the Library Center auditorium. The theatrical readings are taken from the “found” personal journal of Englishman John Salmon of his transatlantic trip from England to New York City in 1828. The Ozarks Genealogical Society is sponsoring the event.
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Visitors to the Strafford Branch Library soon will have more library to love. It’s leasing 1,250 more square feet to add a new community room, three private study rooms and more browsing space.
The branch will be closed March 24-26 to complete the move, and reopen on March 28. Come celebrate the expansion at an old-fashioned ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. April 2, with special guests and refreshments.
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